By EHUD ZION WALDOKSyossi leshem 88(photo credit: )
It is ironic that a government ministry is giving awards to the agitators who so often managed to annoy us, President Shimon Peres noted on Tuesday night at the Environmental Protection Ministry's gala celebration marking 60 years of environmentalism.
"But you should continue agitating. Sometimes governments need agitators to get them going," he concluded.
It was a rowdy crowd of activists, both young and old, who packed the amphitheater in Caesarea for the ceremony, which was followed by a Shalom Hanoch concert. Never those to sit back and let others speak, the crowd heckled Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra for his reversal on Mirsham (see box) and even urged prize recipient Prof. Uri Marinov to end his long-winded speech.
However, the audience was sincere in its applause for the 12 recipients of a lifetime achievement award from the ministry. The award itself was a fanciful butterfly alighting atop a flower, designed by artist Dudu Gerstein.
While there were certainly a lot of activist academics honored, there were also regular people who decided to step up and act in their community.
The judging committee selected the 12 from among 62 candidates. They were chosen for activities over a number of years which had led to a significant change in Israel, Alex Kaplan, who organized the event for the ministry, told the Sviva newspaper. There was near unanimity among the judges regarding the winners, he said. The committee was comprised of seven judges, each representing a different segment of society such as academia, the press or the public.
Those affiliated with The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) took home nearly half the prizes.
The recipients and a summary of their activities:
• Prof. Amotz Zahavi - One of the founders of SPNI and its first head. Also founded the field schools network. Today, he runs the field school in Hatzeva to prevent it from going under.
• Orit Reich - Founded the Organization for Environment and Life in Nahariya. She has been active in discovering and removing asbestos from Nahariya and the western Galilee. Recently convinced the government to take the task upon itself after a 15-year fight. Among other things, she and her organization run environmental education programs in kindergartens.
• Bilha Givon - worked for years in SPNI's Beersheba office and educated the public on environmental issues. Later founded the organization "Sustainable Negev" which deals mainly with industry giants in the Negev mostly at the Ramat Hovav Industrial Park.
• Uri Dvir - If you've ever walked down a trail marked with three lines of paint, there's a good chance Dvir had something to do with it. Through SPNI and on his own, he has marked trails all over Israel and has written many guidebooks and maps. His crowning glory is "Shvil Yisrael," a 1000 km trail which traverses all of Israel. A fifteen year endeavor, it was opened in 1995.
• Prof. Alon Tal - Founded the Israel Union for Environmental Defense (IUED) and the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Ketura. IUED is one of the premier environmental organizations in Israel. The Arava Institute offers an environmental course of study to Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, Egyptians and others. A past chair of Life and Environment, Tal teaches at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and represents Israel at the UN's desertification forums.
• Yoav Sagi - head of Machon Deshe, past head of SPNI, Sagi convinced Israel's planners to take into account environmental aspects. He founded the Rivers Administration and has represented green groups on the National Planning Council for years.
• Dr. Yossi Leshem - Leshem put Israel on the birdwatching map. He founded an international center at Latrun and most recently organized the elections for a national bird, which brought Israel's aviary population to the attention of many of the country's human inhabitants for the first time. Leshem was attending a conference and so his young grandson Nadav accepted the prize on his behalf.
• Yosef Tamir - Journalist, Knesset member, and founder of Life and Environment, the Israel's umbrella environmental organization, nicknamed "Mr. Environment." One of Israel's first environmental activists. Was a reporter for The Palestine Post wbefore the founding of the state.
• Azarya Elon - One of the founders of SPNI, editor and publisher of the Land of Israel Encyclopedia of flora and fauna. Has written hundreds of books and articles and is the host of an environmental radio show which has been running since 1959.
• Prof. Uri Marinov - The only former government employee to receive an award, Marinov established the Environment Ministry and was its first director-general. He also established the first environmental unit in the government in the Prime Minister's Office in 1969. He was also instrumental in establishing Earth Day in Israel and preparing environmental reports on Israel to be submitted to the UN.
• Prof. Emanuel Mazor - A geologist by training, Mazor has focused on the Ramon crater. He was instrumental in getting it declared a nature reserve and constructing the Ramon Science Center for continuing study of its unique features. He is the author of over 100 master plans for protecting open spaces.
• Prof. Hillel Shoval - An environmental engineer of US origins, he was heavily involved in creating the sanitation department at the Ministry of Health in 1950. He served as its head from 1958-1965. He has been an international consultant to the WHO, the World Bank and UNEP, and has been a champion of water reclamation. He has also been involved in scientific co-existence efforts between Israelis and Palestinians. At present, he heads Hadassah College's Environmental Health Sciences Program.
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